With gin, I always felt you should be paying for the liquid, not for their brand/packaging/advertising. Just like tequila.
So, my preferred gin is CITADELLE or BOOTLE’S
I find it amusing when people on a wine board get all hyper about pricing for other people’s fields of interest.
A.
Semi-agree…but with wine there is a wide variety of prices from $2 to $2000, etc…
Specific areas of the liquor market have the same ability (scotch, cognac, bourbon, etc…) but in regards to this gin there really isn’t a market…is there another gin at $100?, $200? $500?. I guess you can call them a trendsetter or opportunistic…but still, I’m just not sure the market is there.
They don’t make enough of it to really impact the market. I suspect they make it primarily to call attention to the regular brand - in which case it could even be underpriced relative to cost. ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
A.
My point (btw this is a spirits forum, not a wine forum, so in a sense, its a ‘spirits board’ as far as this segment goes) is more cultural. It would be like the British making a genever and selling it for some astronomical sum. People in Holland don’t drink much gin–just try to get a martini in a bar in Holland (I’m talking outside of bars in hotels, etc., that cater to an international crowd). Some folks almost wouldn’t know what you’re talking about if you go to the local places.
Truly absurd.
The French make vodka and gin, both of which have established solid premium brands in the marketplace. That a Dutch distillery wants to make a presence in the gin market - gin being a generic term not a regionally specific one like cognac or tequila - is not absurd.
This is primarily a wine board and most of the people here have about the same level of interaction and interest in detail with spirits as spirits geeks do with wine.
A.
I think now a days when people make a luxury product ($600 gin, etc…) they are thinking worldwide from the beginning.
Hi Andrew
When I said “absurd” I meant the price–not the concept the dutch could distill gin.
Careful not to stereotype re knowledge of spirits in people who also drink wine.
Getting back on topic I’ve really come to admire and appreciate North Shore Gin, no 6. A locally distilled gin near Chicago.
Again, I find a great bit of humor that wine people would find spirit prices absurd. People see the value in the lack of linearity between price in quality in what they are into, but not what in other people are into.
Not stereotyping. My experience is that the set of spirits geeks and wine geeks has a fairly small overlap. Not to say that wine people don’t like spirits (and vice versa), but there are very few who have equally deep interest in both.
A.
My uncle who was a hardened old B-17 pilot wasn’t happy unless he was drinking Gordon’s Gin. About the only way I’ll drink gin, which I love: with him Gordon’s on rocks straight. Without, Gordon’s rocks lemon peel and two olives. I know it ain’t the best gin in the world, but it would seem wrong drinking anything else.
there is a market for it… we sold a couple. i’ve been lucky enough to try the Nolet’s Reserve. The same company as Ketel One makes it.
The label is a big, honking 14k gold-plated placard, making it one pimpdaddy bottle. It also has an Ace of Spades-looking box. The Reserve is made with saffron and verbena, which you taste. The distributor said a lot of saffron went into the batch (i forget the amounts). I thought it was very good.
In both Nolet’s Silver and Reserve, (compared to other gins) the juniper element was barely noticeable. The Silver (which costs several $$$ less) was very floral with a lot of stone fruit. I liked the two just as much.
Cheers,
Best Gin neat on the rocks? Oh and of course I will try T-Bones concoction.
Desert Juniper from Bend Distillery was my go-to for most of the Oughts.Very ‘botanical’. Makes wonderful G&Ts.
St. Georges in Alameda, CA has some new gins out recently, including one called ‘Terroir’ that has locally sourced botanicals from Mount Tamalpais across the bay. It’s a bit over the top, but worth a try. Better neat then in a G&T, especially if you are using good tonic, which seems to bring out the worst in the botanicals they use.
Wyan VanGorp said:
People in Holland don’t drink much gin–just try to get a martini in a bar in Holland (I’m talking outside of bars in hotels, etc., that cater to an international crowd). Some folks almost wouldn’t know what you’re talking about if you go to the local places.
My Dutch brother-in-law has just started making and selling a fantastic gin in Holland called VL-92. His market is high-end, such as it exists there. For obvious reasons, but really because of quality, it is my new go-to gin for G&T and for drinking neat. It’s worth seeking out if you are in The Netherlands. Plug over. (BTW Wyan, he’s fooled around with genever as well but nothing that comes close in quality to the gin.)
Hendricks
Martin Miller
Blackwoods
Favourite for G&T, Tanqueray
Plymouth, sadly, gives me a shocking headache
Anyone tried Aviation gin?
Another Hendrick’s fan. Also have Bombay Sapphire and Tanqueray in the house also…Want to try Miler and Plymouth sometime soon.
Martin Miller’s and Hendricks are the two go-to’s in my house. However, I have been drinking a little Ethereal lately, and I’m still not sure what I think about it. Sometimes I like its uniqueness(quite flowery), sometimes not so much.
Beefeater is my number one and about all I’ll drink in a classic (for me that’s 5 to 1, Noilly Prat please, olive) straight up martini. I have a hankering for Plymouth once in awhile, and as mentioned, Gordon’s not half bad for the price but not straight up.
It’s Gin season again! I’m hitting the local stuff tonight.
There’s a season for Gin? My season lasts all year long.
Tried a new one today. Magellan Gin.
Naturally a light blue color. Very smooth with a lot of botanicals.